Short film analysis

Under the stairs

The film begins with a shot of the ceiling, that then tilts down to show a large corridor that is lit by lights on the ceiling, with doors on each side of the corridor. This cuts to a close up of a women typing on a laptop, cutting again to a wide shot of her lying on her bed while working on the laptop. In all shots, the diegetic sound of someone crying can be heard through the walls, muffled slightly in each shot.

The shot continues with the character noticing the sound of crying and getting up to listen, calling out, asking if they are ok. This then cuts back and forth between a close up shot of her face pressed upon the wall listening to the crying person, again asking how they are. This flickers back to the original wide shot of her on the bed in a empty room, and then back to the close up. After this it jump cuts to a close up of a  kettle boiling, with a load piercing sound going with it, startling the viewer. This is then proceeded by close up shot of her pouring the water in to a mug, then a wide shot of her in the kitchen, where her cat jumps on to the kitchen counter, emphasising the cat as it plays an important role later in the film.

This then cuts to a head shot of the women looking across the room again, listening to the crying once more. Following this, a wide panning shot plays, with her walking from the kitchen back in to the bedroom, placing her head on the wall again. The same close up of this is used again, were she asks if the crying person wants some tea. The camera then goes back to the wide shot of the room from before, having her pick up her laptop, which is the only source of light in the room, walking back in to the kitchen with it. While she walks past an open door way, an ominous non diegetic sound plays, a common technique used in horror films, while the light highlights a figure in the doorway, watching her, which only the audience notices.

The wide shot continues to pan around the room, following her back in to the kitchen, were she opens a cabinet to look inside. The unsettling silence of the scene is then broken by the loud diegetic bangs on the front door next to her, startling both her and the audience. The scene continues, panning around once again as she opens the door, only to find none is stood there.

The camera then has a close up head shot of her looking outside the door, pocking her head around the frame. This is followed by a point of view shot of her looking down the corridor, panning from left to right, showing nothing but an empty room. This moment of tense quietness is then again broken by a sharp sound, this time the thud of her cat running out the open door and down the hallway. This cuts back to the women at a close up shot of her faces, showing the small shock she felt from this, which then zooms outwards to show more of the corridor, were she walks out and shuts the door. The scene then cuts to a wide shot of the cat sitting, staring at her from the top of the stairs.

Moving on from this, the camera show a low angle shot of the women, looking up at her from the bottom of the stairs as she peers down them. This then cuts to a point of view shot of her looking down the stairs, which quickly cuts back to the low angle shot of her again. The camera then has a wide shot of the stair case going down, which slowly pans across revealing the cat sitting by a door, meowing. This cuts to a long show od the women walking down the stairs, tilting down as she does, revealing the same figure as before standing bellow the staircase, with the same non diegetic sound playing again. All the time this is happening the sound of the person crying can be heard once again.

The camera then cuts to a low level shot of the cat by the door, with the characters hand appearing and picking up the cat, tilting the camera with it to show a medium shot of her holding the cat. At this happens, load non diegetic music begins, with a gradually increasing volume and pitch, presenting a feeling of panic and fear. The camera then pans around to her walking up the stairs, with the figures from before much closer now, clearly in shot as she walks up the stairs. There is then a quick cut to a low level close up shot of her legs as she walks up the stairs, which slowly cranes up with her as she ascends. A hand comes out from under the stairs and grabs her leg tightly. The camera then cuts sharply to a close up of her face, as she pulls her head backwards and creams in pain. The camera cuts to a long shot of the cat running down the stairs, which is then followed by a birds eye view shot, showing the whole staircase, with the women then being pulled under the stairs by the hand as she continues to scream, all while the loud non diegetic music is ear piercingly load at this point.

The scene lingers on that shot for a few seconds, until finally cutting to a close up shot of a step on the staircase, which cranes down the steps to show the mysterious and evil figure that dragged the women underneath staring directly at the camera, clearly showing the demonic look of her character. The camera then continues to crane past until finally fading to black, showing the title of the film.